Mistress Malfoy
by ScoroseStories11
Summary: Having shocked her family and the world with her sorting, Rose Weasley adjusts to her new life with the help of an unexpected friend - Scorpius Malfoy. Excerpt: Without a word, he drew her tightly to him for a hug and pressed her face into his chest for a few moments. This story follows Rose as she grows up during her time at Hogwarts. Rated M for later chapters. Please R&R


p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"First Year/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"(Friday, September 1, 2017)/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Rose Weasley left her tearful mother, proud father, and jealous little brother on the platform as soon as she was able and made her way onto the Hogwarts Express next to her cousin Albus with a sense of ease that he apparently did not share. One look at Al and it was obvious that he was a nervous wreck, and if his worried prattling about the Sorting was any indication, it appeared that he would remain one for the duration of their trip to Hogwarts./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She realized that she had been tuning him out for the past several minutes as they walked through the train in search of their family, and she did her best to pay attention as Albus said, "-suppose he would know. I hope the hat really does take my opinion into account and that I'm not chucked into Slytherin. What do you think Rosie?"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Huh? Oh, I don't know Al. I'm sure that if you're really opposed the hat won't put you there. I don't know why you are so worried though. It's not as if all of the houses don't have their own merits and a rich history!"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Yeah, but Slytherin? I don't think I would fit in there. Besides, it's easy for you to say, 'Don't worry'…you're practically guaranteed to be either a Ravenclaw or Gryffindor. You're brilliant as your mum and act just like your dad!"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She rolled her deep blue eyes and flipped her red hair (in truth the same shades as her father's, though with the curly texture of her mother's hair). As she did, a flash of pale blond caught her attention and a smirk appeared on her face./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Right, well Al, you go on and find the rest of the family. I have someone I'd like to talk to."/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"He gave her a quizzical look, but he decided to drop it and, with a shrug, kept walking./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She turned to face the closed compartment door, took a deep breath, and plastered what she hoped was a charming smile on her face before opening the door and stepping inside. The blond boy, Scorpius her family had called him, looked up from the book in his lap and silently raised an eyebrow in question at her sudden appearance. She held his grey gaze for a moment and immediately took a liking to the boy. Her smile widened, and he returned it with a suspicious look of his own./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"After several long moments, she broke the tension and said, "Hello! My name is Rose Weasley, and we are going to be mates" while extending her hand out for him to shake./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"He returned the gesture slowly with a, "Hi. I'm Scorpius Malfoy, and, not to be rude…but…what makes you think that?"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She could tell he knew who she was and was a bit apprehensive about it. "First, because my father expressly told me not to befriend you. He should've known that it's the first thing I would do, and though I know he will not be pleased, I believe it will be good for him. Second, you're sitting here alone and looked like you could use some company, and as interesting a read as," she brazenly lifted the book from his lap to read the title, "span style="font-style: italic;"Hogwarts: A History/spanis, I can assure you that my company is much more desirable."/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"For a moment Scorpius looked gobsmacked; however, he realized that his expression was not one befitting a Malfoy and soon was chuckling instead. "You, Rose Weasley, are rather forward, aren't you?"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She simply nodded and took the seat across from him. For half the train ride, the two First Years talked. They covered little topics like their favorite colors (his blue and hers green), their favorite sweets (acid pops for both), and their favorite Quidditch teams (his the Wimborne Wasps and hers the Holyhead Harpies) and they also played several games of Exploding Snap./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"When the sweets laden trolley arrived, they both got up to purchase whatever they desired, and it wasn't until they were once again seated and about to dig in that the door slid open with a group of students outside. The tall boy, he looked to be about 15, tilted his head at the site of Rose but soon decided to ignore her and step inside, followed by a younger girl and boy who both looked to be about her age./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Scorpius," said the tall boy - he had a dark complexion with hazel eyes and chestnut hair. "Have you been here this whole time mate? I thought you would stop by our compartment once you boarded the train."/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Scorpius replied, "Right, sorry Slade! I had planned on reading for a bit," he held up his forgotten book as proof, "but then I lost track of time talking to Rose."/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"The older boy, Slade, once again gave Rose a look and was about to say something when the girl suddenly stepped forward and cut him off. "Hi Rose! My name is Isabelle Zabini, Scor's cousin. I'm just starting out at Hogwarts. This," she pointed to Slade, "is my older brother, and he is going into his fifth year."/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Isabella extended her hand and Rose rushed to shake it. The other girl was very pretty with the same dark features, hair color, and eyes as her brother. Though, while he wore a slight scowl, she had a brilliant smile on her face./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Apparently thinking he was being overlooked, the other boy cleared his throat loudly and introduced himself as Eli Goyle, another First Year. Rose shook his hand a gave him a smile which he returned. Eli had black hair and blue eyes and was taller and more bulky than Scorpius who was more wiry./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Well, I just came to remind you to change into your robes soon," said Slade with a swift nod of his head toward Scorpius./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"This jolted Rose to attention and she looked down at the watch on her left wrist, ignoring the casual conversation that her companions were engaged in and letting it fade into the background. Bloody hell, was that really the time? She jerked her head up and got to her feet. The others in the compartment stared at her. She said, "I hadn't realized the time! I've got to find my family and change. I will see you lot once we get to Hogwarts. It was really nice to meet all of you," and gave them one last smile and a wave./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"It didn't take long for her to locate her family, as theirs was the loudest and fullest compartment by far, and when she finally opened the door to try and squeeze in she was met with a chorus of, "ROSE!" as well as many inquiries about her previous whereabouts./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"The familiar chaos of her family was soothing, and after changing into her robes, she simply sat down (the only spot she could find was in James's lap) and listened peacefully to all their chatter about classes and Quidditch and summer vacation./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Soon the train arrived at the station in Hogsmeade and the student body disembarked from the Hogwarts Express. The First Years making their way toward the edge of the lake at the behest of Hagrid and the rest boarding carriages./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"After being instructed to board the boats that would take them to the castle in groups of three, Rose found herself on the journey across the lake with Albus and Uncle Neville's youngest, Alice Longbottom. None of them spoke because the sight of Hogwarts looming before them was breathtaking. The journey seemed both too long (she was anxious to be Sorted and in the castle's warmth) and too short (she wanted nothing more than to freeze this moment to savor the contradictory feelings of new beginnings and homecoming which existed in tandem within her for as long as possible)./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"When the boats were docked and all the First Years safely on ground, they were led through the lower half of the castle and into the Great Hall by Uncle Neville (no, Professor Longbottom she corrected herself internally)./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Rose spent most of her time studying her surroundings, only paying attention to the sorting of people she knew. The first sorting to draw her attention was that of "Goyle, Eli" who went to Slytherin after a minute./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Next, she turned her attention to "Longbottom, Alice" who was blushing furiously by the time she sat upon the stool in front of her dad. She was sorted into Hufflepuff, and before she made her way to the table cheering for her, she gave her father a swift hug./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Malfoy, Scorpius" was next called and the hall was silent as everyone stared at him. It seemed like he was on the stool forever, though it had only been about four minutes in reality, when the hat finally bellowed out, "Slytherin" and he made his way to the far table whose occupants gave him a lukewarm greeting at best. This fact drew Rose's curiosity until she heard the name of the next person she knew./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Potter, Albus". Al made his way up toward Neville slowly, and it was obvious to everyone that the boy was nervous when he shakily took the seat. After only a few moments, the hat declared Al the newest addition to Gryffindor and his features immediately relaxed into a dopey grin. Happy for her cousin, Rose cheered with the rest of her family and the Gryffindors until the next name was called./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Both Scamander boys went to Ravenclaw, and after four more students were sorted, Rose heard her name being called./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She strode confidently toward the stool at the front of the hall. Turning on her heel, she looked at each house in turn and caught the eyes of her friends and family. The last eyes she focused on were those of Scorpius Malfoy, and with his encouraging nod, she sat swiftly on the stool to await her fate./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She barely felt the hat stir her curls when it was shouting, "Slytherin!" for all to hear. The hall went deadly silent, but after her initial shock, she simply rose from the stool, plastered a smirk on her face, and made her way toward the Slytherin table. No one but Scorpius clapped as she approached the people that were to be her new family; therefore, she made a point to sit next to him. Once she was seated, he grabbed her hand under the table and gave it a comforting squeeze. Her heart clenched. She had never been more grateful for someone in her life, and when her gaze finally sought out her family members, it was to find them all shooting her looks of open confusion and disgust./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Determined not to cry, she turned her attention back to the sorting just in time to see "Zabini, Isabelle" sorted into Slytherin as well./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Throughout the feast, she merely picked at her food and listened to her new friends and housemates chat around her. When the feast was over, she followed the Slytherin prefects robotically to the dungeons which she would call home for the next seven years./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Upon arrival into the common room, Rose quickly pushed her way toward the girls' dorms but was stopped suddenly when a hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. She looked at the hand with long, pale fingers and trailed her eyes up the arm and chest before resting them on the beautiful face of Scorpius Malfoy. Without a word, he drew her tightly to him for a hug and pressed her face into his chest for a few moments. Blushing, he finally released her and looked down into her eyes. Blue met grey, and before she could comprehend what had just happened, he wished her a good night and headed to his own dorm./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She felt dazed and exhausted. Rose entered her dorm and changed without joining in on the conversation that her new dorm mates were having about the feast, the sorting, and the classes they would be attending in the coming week. Instead, she got into bed and shut the curtains around her./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"In the relative privacy of her own canopy, Rose laid down and allowed herself to cry just a little bit for she knew that in only a millisecond her world had changed. She had been placed into Slytherin house. There was nothing she could do, and her family were not pleased. If the reactions of her cousins were anything to go by, her parents' and other family members' reactions wouldn't be any better (and would probably be worse)./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Tears leaking, Rose Weasley closed her eyes in the hopes that she would be able to turn off her worried thoughts for the night. Right before she fell asleep, her mind conjured the face and voice of the beautiful, blond haired boy who had, in the course of only one day, become her lifeline. A soft smile graced her lips, and Rose fell into a pleasant dream about grey eyes, acid pops, and Exploding Snap./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"…/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Rose woke slowly the next morning, noting that the greenish-blue water outside the windows let only a tiny amount of distorted sunlight into her room. She pondered this for a moment and decided that she quite liked the mesmerizing way it cast her surroundings into dull shadows. It was comforting, but, seeing that it was already 10:00, she made a mental note to invest in some sort of alarm or risk constantly being late and missing lessons./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Realizing she was alone in the room, she rushed to shower, dress in muggle jeans and Holyhead Harpies jersey (bearing her aunt's name and number on the back), and ascend the steps which would lead her through her common room and into the Great Hall./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She checked the time on her watch. It read 11:30. Great, she had missed breakfast, but it looked like lunch was already out on the tables./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She glanced around in search of familiar faces and her eyes first caught those of Albus. He gave her a small grin and nod. Encouraged by this, she made her way toward the Gryffindor table when everyone around Al suddenly noticed who he was looking at./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"All looking her dead on, her steps faltered when she noticed that not a single face looked happy to see her. James, directly across from Al, was shooting her a venomous glare. The twins, Fred and Rox has their identical brown eyes narrowed into slits. Dom's flawless face wore a slight scowl, and Frank Longbottom was just frowning./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She noticed then that the rest of her relatives and childhood friends (the ones not in Gryffindor) were sitting at the table as well. Vic's scowl was a mirror of her sister's. Louis and Molly looked bored. Lorcan and Lysander wore looks of confusion. The only two semi-though not very-friendly faces were Alice's (a soft sad look of understanding) and Al's (green eyes seeming to be silently encouraging her to be brave)./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"For a while they were all frozen. She was glued to the spot, staring at them. They were staring back, letting their feelings known. It want until a warm arm wrapped itself around her shoulders that Rose even acknowledged the rest of the students in the hall./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She looked up into the grey eyes of Scorpius Malfoy and tried her best to convey her gratitude for him through her own blue orbs. Her gaze broke from his at the sound of an outraged scream and commotion coming from the direction of her family./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She saw half of them on their feet, looking fit to murder the boy who had his arm curved protectively around her, but she couldn't bring herself to care if they were upset. Instead, she could only be grateful for the Malfoy, and leaned her body into his softly./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"It seems that this small shift was all it took to break her family who immediately broke out into hissed conversations amongst themselves. Scorpius started to turn, tugging her gently along, and they made their way together to the Slytherin table./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"…/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"That evening, Rose received letters from her grandmum Weasley, her mum, and her Aunt Ginny, all assuring her that though she was in Slytherin, the family didn't love her any less than they ever had. This wasn't very reassuring considering the way her family members present at Hogwarts had treated her thus far. It was also surprising since she hadn't written home about her sorting herself. A sigh escaped her lips before she could stop it, and she was considering just going to bed (there was no way she would respond to them tonight) when the seat next to her on the soft leather couch dipped. She glanced to her right to see Isabella sitting there./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Hey Rose! Are you okay? You have been quiet all day."/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Rose was about to respond when she was interrupted by Eli, sitting across from them in a plush armchair, "Of course she isn't Belle! Her whole family are wankers!"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"A laugh sounded from Scor who was sitting the matching arm chair next to his, and the sound made Rose smile despite her dreadful mood./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Belle looked concerned that Rose would be offended, but Rose simply said, "You're right Eli. I mean, I was just sorted into the Slytherin. That doesn't make me evil. Though, if they keep this up, I may contemplate turning to the dark side." She flashed them a smirk and felt her cheeks heat when Scor returned it with one of his own a wink./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"He said, "It's too late now Ro. You've joined the dark side, and there's no turning back." He steepled his fingers together and looked contemplative for a moment before continuing, "Nor would we give you back! Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin. Despite what I'm sure your family has told you all your life, we are very loyal to our own."/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Yeah girl," added Belle with a squeeze of her hand, "we hardly know you, but we already love you! You're one of us, and no matter what, we've got your back!"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"The first true wave of calm since her sorting hit Rose at their kind words and actions. Scor was right. She had always heard nothing but negatives about her house, but surrounded by her new friends - friends who accepted her without question because, like her, they were snakes - she felt truly at home./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"…/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Over the course of her first term at Hogwarts, Rose spent most of her time with her three best friends. They sat together during classes and meals, explored the castle, studied, attended Quidditch matches, and played games. It was a rare sight to see them apart, and after a while, the rest of the school just took it as fact that the foursome was an inseparable unit./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"By Christmas, she was not only close with Scor, Belle, and Eli but also most of the other Slytherins as well. She discovered that while house unity was something everyone supposedly pushed, her housemates were still treated with scorn by most students. This led to a strong bond between all Slytherins and a group unity unlike that of any other house./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"In her humble opinion, Slytherins on the whole were more loyal than Hufflepuffs, more clever than Ravenclaws, and braver (by sheer virtue of existing daily with the negative remarks directed their way by outsiders) than Gryffindors. Add to all this their cunning, ambition, and staunch maintenance of tradition, and Rose couldn't have been happier to have ended up where she had./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"At times it was hard because her family still treated her the way they did any of her other housemates, but after the first month or so, she learned to ignore them for the most part./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"As for her family outside of Hogwarts, after those initial letters, she had very little contact with them. Her mum and Uncle Harry occasionally sent her letters. She had received a couple care packages from both sets of her grandparents, and she had even been sent a new book on magical and muggle plants by her little brother (she had always been fascinated with the properties held within various sprouts). However, no communication came from her father. Having been a Daddy's girl her whole life, this stung most of all, but she chose to just put the fact from her mind and devote herself wholly to her new existence as the sole Slytherin Weasley./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Now, after spending the entire train ride home with her best friends, she slowly gathered her things and mentally prepared herself to exit onto the platform and greet her family./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She stepped down from the train's car and followed her friends to where their parents all stood together awaiting their children. She had yet to spot her family, and she rather liked the idea of meeting their parents anyway./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Mum! Dad!" Belle called enthusiastically as she ran to hug both her parents at once. They laughed and squeezed her tight for a moment before letting her go and inquiring after her brother./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Eli was the next to reach his parents. He greeted his mother with a big hug and his father with a more formal handshake before turning to his little brother (Landon - age 8) and swinging him up in a hug./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Finally Scor, dragging her behind him by the hand, stopped in front of his parents. "Hey mum and dad! This is my friend Rose that I have told you all about!"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Scor's parents exchanged a knowing look that did not go unnoticed by the girl herself and Scor's mum immediately pulled her in for a hug. Once Astoria Malfoy - tall, blonde, blue eyed, and beautiful let her go, she turned her attention to her son who gave her a hug and gentle kiss on the cheek. Next, Draco - an older, more aristocratic looking version of Scorpius - stepped forward and clapped his son on the back before facing Rose and offering her a hand to shake. She smiled up at them and started to make polite small talk when she suddenly felt a hand come down on her shoulder./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She startled and looked directly up into the livid eyes of her father (the same shade of blue as her own) just as he was saying, "Get away from my daughter Malfoy!"/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;""Daddy!" Rose stomped her foot and said, "Don't be so rude to friends and their parents! You're embarrassing yourself and me. Now, come on, let's go find mum and Hu." Turning to face a surprised and impressed looking Malfoy family, Rose concluded, "It was very nice to meet you. Scor, write to me! I will see you on the train after break." She stepped forward and wrapped him in one final hug before grabbing the sleeve of her now red-faced father and dragging him away./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"…/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"The car ride from King's Cross to their house was a quiet one, but as soon as they Rose made it past the threshold her father started screaming at her. He said she had no right to speak to him that way, "especially in front of a bunch pompous, jumped up, span style="font-style: italic;"slimy snakes/span!" and that she was grounded for the duration of the holiday./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Hurt, outraged, and with a temper to rival his own, Rose shouted back at her father that in fact span style="font-style: italic;"he /spanhad no right to treat her friends that way, and that if he hated Slytherins so much then he must hate her too before turning quickly toward the stairs, running into her room, and illegally locking and silencing it. The distraught girl allowed herself to break down into tears in the comfort of her childhood room, but as she looked around at the yellow walls and red comforter, she found herself wishing for the dark green of her Slytherin room./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Downstairs, she could hear her parents yelling at one another, but she couldn't be bothered to listen. She was sure it was about her. That was her main regret, she didn't want to be the cause of any turmoil within her family for Hugo's sake if nothing else./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"…/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"Rose spent almost the entirety of her holiday cloistered away in her room owling her friends and reading mostly. She only came out for meals when at home, and the most interaction she actually had with her family were during Christmas celebrations at the Burrow and the annual Potter New Year's Eve party./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"During these events, Rose kept to herself and her family members rarely spoke to her. Her grandmum, aunts, and uncles had tried asking her about school and her friends at lunch on Christmas Eve, but the second she mentioned Scorpius most of them became irate. She stormed up to her father's old bedroom and spent that afternoon alone with yet another book./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"…/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"She didn't go home for Easter. Instead, she opted to stay alone at Hogwarts. Both Belle and Scor had invited her home with them, but she decided that going would really antagonize her family so she thought better of it./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"During the holiday, Rose enjoyed the freedom that came with having relatively few of the castle's normal occupants left. She explored the halls and passageways, found rare books in the library, and even discovered the secret entrance to the kitchens. However much she enjoyed her alone time (only herself and a couple of amorous seventh years who couldn't be bothered to stop snogging long enough to hold a simple conversation were left in the Slytherin dorms), by the last day she found that she missed her friends terribly./p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"…/p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;" /p  
p style="margin: 0in; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11pt;"As her first year drew to end, faced with a summer holiday stuck with her family (she highly doubted she would be allowed to visit any of her friends), Rose set her mind to mending some of the broken bonds between herself and her loved ones. Though she firmly believed she had done nothing wrong, she still missed her family fiercely and was determined to make a fresh start - beginning by fixing her relationship with her father./p 


End file.
